History

Ottoman Empire in the year 1593, with subdivisions shown. pic.twitter.com/TeUCfpmao6

— PAN CAUCASUS (@pancaucasus) January 20, 2026

 

An Insight

To my billionaire friends: keep your receipts. (jk I don’t have billionaire friends.)

But seriously: 4 years later CA is hunting down those who left.

“Narrative of the circumstances surrounding you becoming non-residents”… what a joke.

This is what a failing state looks like. pic.twitter.com/VWGIxgd5kw

— hari raghavan (@haridigresses) January 19, 2026

 

I see wonderful things

Benvenuto Cellini - Perseus with the Head of Medusa pic.twitter.com/tPsJjjBPKC

— Art Gallery (@X_ArtGallery) January 20, 2026

 

Offbeat Humor

Pentecostal Church Doesn't Notice Riot Is Occurring https://t.co/u0NsXqHTPv pic.twitter.com/nU0TVw0Shb

— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) January 19, 2026

 

Data Talks

Here's (one reason) why high-speed rail works in China and not the US. These population density maps are roughly the same scale. 1.3 billion people live east of the line in China. 220 million live east of the line in the US.
8/x pic.twitter.com/edlykciJyH

— John Arnold (@johnarnold) January 19, 2026

 

Courtyard of the Jama Mosque, 1840 by Eugène Flandin

Courtyard of the Jama Mosque, 1840 by Eugène Flandin (France, 1809-1889)

Click to enlarge.

The Macbeths' is the happiest marriage in Shakespeare

Heh.  I came across this claim.

Harold Bloom said that the Macbeths have the only happy marriage in all of Shakespeare.

Well, it appears to be true and this seems to be a topic of fairly esoteric literary discussion.

Grok confirms:

In his 2019 book Macbeth: A Dagger of the Mind, Bloom writes:  

"Long ago, I remember characterizing the Macbeths as the happiest marriage in Shakespeare. That can seem a grim jest, yet it is veracious. Their passion for each other is absolute in every way, as much metaphysical as erotic. The lust for power fuses with mutual desire and enhances the turbulence of their ecstasy."

I see a screenshot of Dreadnought on Bluesky.

You may laugh, but the Macbeths are a much better role model for a marriage than Romeo and Juliet.  They discuss their problems (killing the King of Scotland), share their hobbies (killing the King of Scotland), and resolve their conflicts (by killing the King of Scotland.)

But who wants to be foretold the weather?

From Three Men in a Boat: To Say Nothing of the Dog by Jerome K. Jerome

But who wants to be foretold the weather? It is bad enough when it comes, without our having the misery of knowing about it beforehand.

History

Signature of Queen Elizabeth I (1533-1603) pic.twitter.com/d9rG4hkJFQ

— Archaeology & Art (@archaeologyart) January 20, 2026

 

An Insight

Protesting is actually about petitioning the government for a redress of grievances. The word for traumatizing kids at church to effect political ends is "terrorism." https://t.co/7KCZ6quiJm

— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) January 19, 2026